B. Joseph White, President of the University of Illinois
Welcome to the University of Illinois Global Campus, the online campus of one of the world's great centers of learning and discovery. The University of Illinois is our state's most valuable asset, a dynamic example of the transforming power of public higher education in the lives of individuals and society.
Today 85 percent of Americans graduate from high school but only about 30 percent from college. This massive education gap is thwarting achievement of individual dreams and impairing America's competitiveness in the global economy. The University of Illinois' mission as a land-grant institution is to bring quality education to large numbers of able and motivated Illinois citizens and others. We have a moral obligation to capitalize on information and communication technology, much of which was developed at the U of I, to extend quality education to thousands of people who don't have the personal freedom or life circumstances to spend an extended period of time on one of our three campuses.
With the founding of The Global Campus, the University aims to serve those students throughout the world with state-of-the-art online teaching methods and high-technology resources coupled with solid course content created by faculty from our three residential campuses—Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield.
The initial programs we will offer in January are just the beginning of a dynamic, long-term effort that will make University of Illinois courses and degrees in many areas of study available to non-traditional students and to those whose work and family situations make it difficult or impossible for them to join us on campus in person.
I invite you to learn more about the University of Illinois Global Campus by exploring our web site. I am confident you will find The Global Campus as innovative, accessible, and engaging as I do.
— B. Joseph White
